Mirapex - for Restless Leg Syndrome or "RLS"

Mirapex is a prescription medication used to treat people with "Restless Leg Syndrome", a somewhat controversial diagnosis. For example from the Mirapex corporate website we are told to look for the following symptoms, answering yes to all of these:

Do you feel a strong desire to move your legs from time to time, often when they make you uncomfortable?
Do those sensations in your legs occur or get stronger when you are inactive?
Does moving around or stretching help ease those uncomfortable sensations in your legs?
Do those uncomfortable sensations feel their worst at night?

Well, maybe I've got it but I'm pretty sure many people have this type of restlessness "from time to time". I hope doctors prescribe a few hours of walking before drugging people.

Corporate Mirapex Website

Propecia for male hair loss

Propecia is the brand name of a drug called Finasteride that is used to treat hair loss in men caused by the dominant male pattern baldness.

WARNING: This drug can cause deformities in unborn children and pregnant women should not even handle the opened *packaging* of Propecia or Finasteride.

Propecia -Company Website

Stages of Male Pattern Hair Loss
Causes of Male Pattern Hair Loss

Wikipedia on Propecia

Chantix, a drug to help people stop smoking cigarettes

Chantix is a prescription drug used to help people stop smoking.
Chantix stimulates low level dopamine release in the brain -a pharmacologically similar approach to other nicotine "replacement" therapies.

Common Questions
Chantix
Info
Prescription Info
Ask Your Doctor
Chantix the Drug
For Doctors

A critical view of Chantix

Avandia. A Prescription Drug for Diabetes

Avandia is a diabetes drug. The FDA has just announced a more strict labelling for this drug though it appears Avandia will stay on the market.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is aware of a potential safety issue related to Avandia (rosiglitazone), a drug approved to treat type 2 diabetes. Safety data from controlled clinical trials have shown that there is a potentially significant increase in the risk of heart attack and heart-related deaths in patients taking Avandia. However, other published and unpublished data from long-term clinical trials of Avandia, including an interim analysis of data from the RECORD trial (a large, ongoing, randomized open label trial) and unpublished reanalyses of data from DREAM (a previously conducted placebo-controlled, randomized trial) provide contradictory evidence about the risks in patients treated with Avandia.
Patients who are taking Avandia, especially those who are known to have underlying heart disease or who are at high risk of heart attack should talk to their doctor about this new information as they evaluate the available treatment options for their type 2 diabetes.


Here is news about Avandia

Avandia Company Website

Avandia from Drugs .com

FDA Safety Alert - Avandia

Avodart for Prostate

Avodart (Dutasteride) is a prescription drug that shrinks the prostate. Obviously it's therefore for men only, and in fact Avodart is *dangerous* for women to handle as even extremely small exposure to Avodart can lead to birth defects in pregnant women.

Prostate problems are extremely common in men, especially older men.

Avodart Company Website

Avodart Free Trial

Wikipedia Entry

Iron and Prescription Medications

I did some quick internet research trying to find connections of the following medications to Iron deficiency (Anemia). This was not a thorough study by any means, but might be a helpful starting point for other queries about the complex topic of drug interactions and health with respect to Iron deficiency:

Procardia XL
nothing alarming found re: Anemia

Atenolol
Nothing alarming found about iron, efficacy study challenges Atenolol's usefulness: http://www.theheart.org/article/355985.do

Imdur
Nothing alarming but ...
http://www.rxcarecanada.com/Imdur.asp?prodid=2551 (nice summary of precautions)
"Caution should be exercised in patients with arterial hypoxemia due to anemia"

Lipitor
Anecdotal reports by two people that parents on Lipitor got anemia at RXlist.com but it does not appear that anemia was found in the clinical trials.

Tricor
Nothing alarming

Nitrostat
Nothing alarming

Allegra
Nothing alarming

Flonase
With chronic use at doses of 3-4 g/day, iron deficiency anemia may result.

Amitriptyline
Nothing alarming

Celebrex
Anemia is sometimes seen in patients receiving CELEBREX. In controlled. FDA clinical trials the incidence of anemia was 0.6% (from FDA.gov). This is fewer than 1 in 150 Celebrex users.

Nexium
If you are taking ... iron supplements, vitamins that contain iron, or ketoconazole (Nizoral), you should take these medications at least 2 hours before taking (Nexium).

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More notes about Medicines and IRON:
Iron may interfere with the absorption of many different medications. For this reason, it is best to take iron supplements at least two hours before or two hours after taking medications. This is particularly true for the medications listed below:

The following medications may reduce the absorption of iron:
* Cholestyramine and Colestipol: These are two cholesterol-lowering medications known as bile acid sequestrants.

* Medications used to treat ulcers or other stomach problems: Examples of anti-ulcer medications include cimetidine, ranitidine, famotidine, and nizatidine. These medications belong to a class of drugs known as H2 receptor blockers. They change the pH in the stomach and subsequently alter the absorption of iron. It is possible that this effect could occur with other antiulcer medications including antacids and proton pump inhibitors (such as omeprazole and lansoprazole).

Iron decreases the absorption of the following medications:
* Tetracyclines: These are a class of antibiotics that include doxycycline, minocycline, and tetracycline.

* Quinolones: These are a class of antibiotics that include ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, and levofloxacin.

* ACE inhibitors: These are a class of medications used to treat high blood pressure. Examples include captopril, enalapril, and lisinopril.

See the following large list of drugs that can possibly cause Anemia and drug interactions. Coumadin is mentioned as a potential cause of anemia in conjunction with other drugs:
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/anemia/medic.htm


NOTE: Nothing in this blog is to be taken as medical advice.
Prescription Report is here only to provide some insight, links, and information about Prescription Medications and Medications in general. Always consult your physician about anything related to your health and prescriptioon medications.

Asmanex for Asthma

Asmanex is the brand name for an asthma medication that uses an inhaler called an Asmanex "Twisthaler" to give the dose of Corticosteroids on a daily basis. Asmanex is NOT a substitute for emergency inhaler, rather a regular drug to control asthma with regular use.

Asmanex Corporate Website

Free Trial Offer for Asmanex

More Asmanex information from Drugs.com